02/19/2026
Mardi Gras, February 17, 2026
Happy Mardi Gras! Regardless of where you're celebrating Mardi Gras today, you're part of the Louisiana family, so laissez les bon temps rouler! If you're especially fortunate, you're in someplace like Mamou or Iota where you can participate in the Courrir de Mardi Gras, where masked riders on horseback travel from farm to farm (followed by dozens or hundreds of onlooers), begging for chickens to be added to the big gumbo being prepared in town. Thetradition dates back to midieval France and was brought to Louisiana by the Acadians in the 18th century. It died out in the 1930's but started a comeback in the 1960's withthe "Cajun Renaisssance".